A Series of Unfortunate Descendants
by a certain slant of light
Summary: Archie is more than a little uncomfortable when he's caught not only between his own feelings for Atlanta, but now others want to stand in the way as well! Not just one, but two descendants: Briseis and Patroclus! DISCONTINUED.
1. Doubled Edged Sword

**Full Summary: **Archie has never found it easy trying to tell Atlanta how he feels, but how's he supposed to get a word in edgewise when a troublesome twosome enters the picture? The entrance of two new descendents bring about Archie's worst fears and woes, but who are they? Meet one girl and one boy, respectively descended of Patroclus and Briseis. Oh, what's a descendent of Achilles to do when his ancestor's two most famous lovers get caught up in an already difficult non-relationship?

**Author's Note:** I hate it when people don't read author's notes. In any case, there are a few important details in here. First off, this story contains homosexuality (though if you know the true story of Patroclus and Achilles, you really should be expecting that), so be comfortable with it. The legends are not from the movie Troy (Patroclus and Achilles were not related, damn it!), but of the Iliad. That's only important so you know they were not, I repeat, _not_ related in any way, shape or form.

Secondly, I'd very much like you to know that the other characters in this story are _not_ new additions to the team. God, I hate that. That's all you really need to know before the story starts. This is something I just had to write, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And by the way, congratulate me, because I never _ever_ write chaptered stories!

P.S. The title is a work in progress. If you think of anything, tell me. Also, I screw up dialogue sometimes (I'll admit, I don't quite have the hang out if), so please do point any mistakes out to me so that I may correct and learn from them. **Edit:** Made some small changes to correct errors and improve flow.  
That's all, happy reading!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Class of the Titans or its respective characters, but both the new characters introduced in this story belong to me. (Their ancestors, and the stories thereof, do not.)

* * *

"Double Edged Sword"

"Seriously, Cronus, get a _life_." Neil yawned, ducking under a giant minion's swing. Cronus, of course, merely replied with his signature bad guy cackle. Atlanta took over and soon, of course, Cronus' lackeys lay helter-skelter across the terrain, bruised and defeated.

Jay was more than a little bit curious, as it had all seemed too easy. Cronus had come barging in with two hostages, only to be defeated within the span of five minutes? Something wasn't quite right, the descendent of Jason could feel it in the air.

"What are you getting at, Cronus?" he asked, sword brandished.

"I think this time, Jay, you'll find the solution to be the problem." Theresa rolled her eyes at Cronus' reply; oh, how villains do love to be cryptic. The two unconscious hostages - a teenaged boy and a girl of the same age - lay in the center of the room as the God of Time made his 'daring' escape through a portal, as per usual.

"You know, despite the whole hostage thing this time, Cronus is starting to get really by the book," Odie said as the seven teenagers approached the two forms forced into a slumber.

Jay nodded, but decided to focus on the problem at hand. "Come on, we should get them to Chiron," he ordered, picking up the girl and leaving the boy for Herry to bring along.

* * *

The next afternoon, the seven teenagers sat in the Gods' lounge, awaiting news from Hera. Neil was filing his nails, Archie and Atlanta were arguing over who knocked out more giants, Herry and Odie were having yet another insignificant little spat over the battle of brains versus brawn, and Jay and Theresa were talking about Cronus (much to Theresa's dismay).

The graying Goddess of Goddesses entered, hands folded and wearing a soft smile. Jay was the first to notice her entrance and was relieved to see by her composure that she brought good news.

"Titans, I bring good news," Hera said unsurprisingly. "The two teenagers you rescued last night are fine. A few bumps and bruises, nothing that a good day's rest and a nice meal won't cure. They will be staying with us for the span of perhaps a week, so be cordial. Chiron is tending to them, and will soon show them to their respective dormitories."

"Wait, are they awake?" asked Atlanta, to which Hera responded with a curt nod.

"Aren't they kind of freaked out by the whole centaur thing?" chimed Archie.

"As it happens, they too are descendents of men and women of Greek lore. But never you mind, that is a matter for other occasions. You are all dismissed," Hera explained, gentle yet stern in manner.

"Who're they descended from?" Neil asked, never being one for courteous obedience.

"That is unimportant. Training is at five o'clock with Ares and Artemis. In the meantime, you should all go and enjoy your day," the Goddess' tone spoke volumes, telling them that it was, indeed, time to leave.

As the seven of them got out and exited in a bit of a messy manner, no one took notice when Hera lightly grabbed the descendent of Achilles' shoulder.

"Archie, I should like you to meet them."

"Just me?" Archie asked, surprised. "Why?"

"You shall know soon enough, please follow me," Hera, without awaiting a reply, began to lead Archie - who stayed affably silent - down the hallways.

The two soon arrived in Chiron's study. At his desk satthe elderly centaur, wearing rectangle spectacles and looking through some very old, very tattered book. To his left, sitting in an old recliner was a boy idly flipping through a magazine. He was probably about Archie's age, with freckles and brown hair that rested atop his head in loose curls. At the other end of the room, skimming the rows of books, genuinely interested and humming a happy tune was a girl, again most likely the same age as Archie. She had blonde hair that reached just past her shoulders and seemed to be rather tall for her age and gender, probably being just an inch shorter than Archie himself.

Chiron looked up, removing his glasses. "Oh, I see you've brought Archie. Very good, I should like him to know first and foremost."

At this, Archie glanced nervously at Hera, who smiled reassuringly. "Know what?" he asked suspiciously.

Chiron smiled. "Archie, I'd like you to meet Brien," he gestured to the boy, who looked up and gave Archie a coy smile, the likes of which Archie had never seen a boy smile, especially not in his direction, "and Patricia." This time, Chiron gestured to the girl, who turned around eagerly, rushing to shake Archie's hand.

"It's so nice to finally meet you! I've heard so much about you! Well, of Achilles, but you're basically him. When Chiron said you were the descendent of him, why, I was so eager to see you! Oh, but I'm babbling, anyway, I'm Patricia!" Archie smiled awkwardly, retracting his hand and about to say something when the boy interrupted.

"Oh, don't fawn, Patricia. Can't you see your obsession is scaring him?" the boy said, rising from the chair - Archie could tell now that he was shorter than both himself and the girl, but still average height - and shook Archie's hand with much less force than the blonde. In fact, his handshake seemed almost... feminine. "I'm _so_ delighted to finally meet you," Brien said in a more suggestive tone than Archie would have liked.

It all goes without saying that at this point, the descendent of Achilles was quite uncomfortable, if not more than a little bit frightened.

Chiron cleared his throat. "Yes, well, you see, Brien," the boy winked and Archie shuddered a bit, "is the descendent of Briseis, while Patricia," the girl stopped glaring daggers at Brien to giggle with feigned innocence and link gazes with Archie, "is the descendent of Patroclus."

At this point, Archie was most certain his face had turned a ghostly shade of white. He was shocked and horrified, and quite desperate - even more so than before - to leave that room forthwith. His mind reeled, trying to think up something, anything to get him the hell out of there for, like any good descendent of Achilles would have, Archie had read the _Iliad_ and knew this was very bad news indeed.

"Um... it's very nice to meet you both," Archie muttered quickly, his mouth rather dry and his hand rather clammy as he tried to pry it away from Patricia, who had recaptured it in hers while he was lost in shock. "Anyway, I, um, hate to leave, but I really have to go study, so I'll see you around. Okay... bye!" Archie gave a curt wave before walking briskly out of the room. As soon as he was out the door, he burst into a jog.

"Oh, now look at what you've done," Brien muttered, placing his hands on his hips and pouting indignantly while glaring at Patricia.

In the meantime, Chiron laughed a gentle laugh and Hera smiled, feeling a vast amount of sympathy for the poor, unfortunate violet-haired warrior.


	2. Gems of Wisdom

Archie ran into Atlanta's dorm room and slammed the door, causing the fiery-haired girl to jump and spin around, striking a battle stance. Seeing that it was merely her best friend, she relaxed, but tensed up again when she saw he was panting and was, oddly enough, without his trademark blue hoody.

"What's wrong?" she asked, walking over to him. "Is Cronus back?"

"No… not Cronus… crazy stalker girl… Patroclus… took sweater…" Archie managed to say between huffs and puffs.

Atlanta raised an eyebrow and calmed again, though she was now utterly confused. "A crazy stalker girl named Patroclus took your sweater?" To this, Archie nodded vigorously. The hunter rolled her eyes, shoving Archie out of the way, grabbing the knob and about to open the door. "You're insane. Look, there's no crazy stalker girl out there. It's probably just Herry playing a joke on you."

Archie made a frantic motion, hands waving erratically as if to say "no no no no no!" and let out a strangled cry, but it was too late. Before Atlanta had the chance to open the door more than two inches, it burst forth as if of its own accord. The accord, however, was of a tall blonde girl holding a familiar blue sweater in her hands.

"Archie-kins! What do you think you're doing, running away from me like that?" She giggled, as Archie glared at Atlanta, before adopting a rather sullen and defeated expression. "Look, you sprinted off so fast you even forgot your sweater with me, silly!"

Archie managed to say something along the line of a thank-you through gritted teeth, accepting his hoody back and thinking, _I wouldn't be surprised if she smelled it._ He had known the descendent of Patroclus for no more than five hours, but he could already tell he'd had more than he could handle. She had barely let him out of her sight the entire time, constantly pestering him with questions about his heel and how fast he could run and if he could throw a spear and if he was invincible just like Achilles. Archie was ready to throw a spear at _her_ by now.

Atlanta cleared her throat, catching the attention of the blathering blonde girl. Turning to observe the descendent of Artemis, Patricia's genuinely sugar sweet smile faded to an uptight, high-strung expression.

"Who's this, Archie?" Patricia looked down her nose at Atlanta, which wasn't particularly difficult considering the blonde was a few inches taller than her.

"This is my… friend, Atlanta," Archie hated just calling her a friend all the time, but a friend she'd have to stay until he got up enough courage to tell her how he really felt about her.

"I… see. So, what were you two doing?" Patricia asked in an accusatory tone. Archie rolled his eyes, while Atlanta glared at the stranger, already knowing she didn't like this girl at all. Archie was about ready to bolt again, or he would have already if Patricia wasn't blocking the only exit. He prayed to the Gods that he'd live this down one day. Archie was contemplating jumping out the window soon enough, and just when he was sure that moment couldn't possibly get any worse …

"Archie! Ares told me that he wants you to go get in some extra practice time before training. In any case, I was wondering if I could maybe watch…" Brien's inquiring voice faded as he entered the room, observing both Patricia and Atlanta. "Oh, I see you have… company," he decided to ignore Atlanta for the moment and leer at his first enemy. "Don't you think you've stalked him enough for one day, Patricia?"

"I am not stalking him, Brien, Archie _likes_ my company, _don't_ you, Archie-kins?" Patricia asked sweetly, snuggling up against him as he tried desperately not to cringe.

"Uh… sure…" he muttered, while thinking something along the lines of, _Yeah, I like you like I like skin cancer._

Brien humphed, his gaze turning to Atlanta, making quite an obvious show of looking her up and down and not bothering to hide the hint of disgust on his face. "And who's _this?"_

"Atlanta," Patricia said in a vicious, toxic tone. Atlanta rolled her eyes, giving Archie a very objective stare.

Knowing it couldn't possibly get worse now, Archie managed to push Patricia off him. "Uh, Brien, tell Ares I'll be there in half an hour. I really have to study-"

"With _her?_" Brien cut in, glaring at Atlanta again, who was very, very close to knocking both Brien's and Patricia's heads together violently.

"Yeah, uh, Atlanta's the only one with the same class this semester." Archie knew he wasn't very good at lying, but he also knew Patricia wasn't very bright and Brien was too occupied glaring at Atlanta. "… So, I'll see you guys later!" Archie mustered the strength to push them both out the door, even while Brien yelled something about Ares not being pleased and Patricia begging to study with them. With the door finally shut, Archie locked it as soon as he could and slid to the ground, exhausted.

"I am _so_ sorry. I didn't know they were so close behind me." Archie sat cross legged and buried his face in his hands.

"Who the hell _were_ they?" Atlanta asked, not sounding at all pleased.

"The descendents of Patroclus and Briseis," he muttered into his palms.

Atlanta rolled her eyes. "More like the descendents of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum." To this, Archie gave a short, bitter laugh. "So, care to explain?"

Archie groaned again. "Why am I the only one that's read the _Iliad_?" Atlanta didn't respond, so he continued. "During the Trojan war, a girl named Briseis was taken as a prisoner and given to Achilles as a gift from Agamemnon. They became lovers, but then Briseis was taken from him. Briseis was given back to him again, and Achilles and she were going to sail away and begin a new life when Patroclus died in battle, mistaken for Achilles. Achilles got angry and went to war, and that's when he died."

"Okay, I get why Brien might have a thing for you, but what's with Patricia? Brotherly love?" Atlanta raised an eyebrow questioningly.

The unfortunate descendent of Achilles sighed exasperatedly. "I wish. Patroclus and Achilles were…" Archie paused, blushing madly, "lovers."

Atlanta grinned, barely stifling a laugh. "Wow, Cronus has reached a whole new level of evil."

"I'll say."

"So what, you're just gonna hide out here for half an hour?" Atlanta decided to turn his mind to different aspects.

Archie looked up apologetically. "Please don't make me go back out there. I swear, Patricia will rip off my shorts next, and Brien will be there enjoying the view." Atlanta had never heard Archie beg before, so she knew he was serious.

"No problem, but you have _got_ to do something about them," she said, sitting down beside her friend.

"Yeah, thanks for that gem of wisdom," he groaned, as they both laughed lightly before resolving to talk of less frightening subjects.


	3. Next Step is a Padlock

**Author's Note:** For the record, "Brien" is pronounce "Brian." Not... "Breen" or whatever you may have been thinking. :) It's basically a "Herry/Harry" situation. It's spelled with an E for the sake of the name "Briseis."

And just in advance, I have nothing against the homosexual community. Do not accuse me of stereotyping, this is merely the personality I chose for this character because I a) found it fitting, interesting and different, and b) it adds to the humor. I am not homophobic, and I'm sure neither is Archie, but he strikes me as the kind of person who'd be freaked out if someone who was homosexual happened to come onto _him._

* * *

  
Archie lay silently in his bed, fast asleep. He was having the same dream he'd been having these past few nights, the same dream he loved while having it but hated when he woke up, realizing that, yet again, it was just another dream. Oh, but what a dream it was. 

In his dream, he was sitting on a couch in the living room at night, watching some sappy romance movie that he normally wouldn't be caught dead anywhere near. He was wearing his everyday clothes, minus his hoody. Sitting there, Archie had half a mind to turn off the television set and read a book, but decided to wait a few more minutes to see if something interesting would happen.

Soon, Atlanta walked in. He supposed she'd come down for a snack or something, but he'd never really know, nor did he ever really care. She gave him that objective, playful stare she so often gave him, and cocked her hip to the side, crossing her arms. She was speaking, he knew she was, but he didn't hear anything she said. But in the dream, he supposed that was normal, because it never seemed to bother him.

Then, without warning, - and this seemed to exhilarate him every time, even though he'd had the dream on dozens of occasions before - Atlanta's expression would change. It remained playful, in fact, it became a little more playful. And yet, no matter how many times the dream re-occurred, Archie never really saw it coming. Then Atlanta would walk towards him, a strut he'd never seen her do in real life. It was a sashay more common of Theresa, if any girl on the team, and more than a little reminiscent of the sensual way that Aphrodite swung her hips whenever she entered a room.

It was at this point in the dream that Archie supposed his face flushed pink, as Atlanta lowered herself onto the divan and began crawling over him, her face coming precariously close to his. It always filled him with shock and excitement, that look of affectionate lust she'd give him. Then, as per usual in this most unusual dream, she would close her eyes, and he his, and before he knew it, their lips were touching.

It was because of this - basically, his fantasy realized - that Archie relished the dream, but also detested it when he was in a conscious state. And it was always at this point in the dream, the most unfortunate point indeed, where Archie would awaken.

And so he did. But this time, the sensation continued. _I must still be dreaming,_ he thought, but swore that he was in fact awake, and that he did in fact feel a rather unmistakable tingling against his lips. Archie's short lashes fluttered open, as did his mystery kisser's, and Archie's gray eyes looked into vivid green ones, all the while the kiss continuing.

_I thought Atlanta's eyes were hazel..._ Archie's thoughts paused for a moment, before he came to his senses and pushed his aggressor off, eyes wide in horror.

_"BRIEN?"_ Both were blushing madly, as Archie pulled his comforter up protectively around him, causing the curly haired boy to lose balance and fall onto the floor.

"I just... wanted to make sure you were sleeping all right... I mean, you worked really hard at training..." Brien went on, but Archie had no interest in what he was saying.

"Get out!" he interjected.

"But, I mean, you kissed ba-"

"OUT!" Archie bellowed, positive that by now he had woken up the whole dormitory. Brien blushed again, scrambling to his feet and rushing to the door. He stopped, turning around.

"Are you sure I can't get you anythi-"

"YOU CAN GET OUT!" Archie yelled again, and Brian meeped, exiting the dorm room and shutting the door hurriedly behind him.

Archie was quite sure that if he ever had that dream again, it'd be more of a nightmare.

* * *

Archie decided that trying to sleep was no use. He had spent three hours lying restlessly in bed, unable to shut his eyes for more than a minute without snapping them open again in fear of another unprecedented come-on courtesy of Brien. He groaned, turning over and reading the bright red letters of his alarm clock. It was 3:17 AM, and his nerves still hadn't quieted.

So he decided the only way to distract himself from his current persistent case of the heebie-jeebies was to get something in his stomach. And what a case of the heebie-jeebies it was. It was like the feeling one would get after unknowingly standing on an ant hill and looking down, horrified to find they were all over oneself. Even after one has taken three or more showers, that jittery feeling is not easily extinguished. Indeed, Archie felt like he had been covered in the worst ants possible... gay ants.

Getting up and stretching a bit, Archie unlocked his door, moved the chair barring it shut and took off the bells he placed on the knob (to wake him up just in case someone tried to get in). He was half glad that he hadn't had a hammer in the room at the time, or he would have taken a two-by-four from his bedframe and nailed the entrance to the room shut.

Exiting the room and locking the door - he didn't want to be "surprised" when he returned, either - Archie made his way down to the kitchen, barely illuminated by the setting moonlight. He opened the fridge, not quite sure what he could stomach, and decided to just make himself some toast and jam.

"What are you doing?" he heard a voice behind him and spun around, bread knife in hand and holding it as if it were a deadly weapon. His nerves relaxed when he realized it was only Atlanta, but he tensed again, remembering his dream. Cautiously, he padded towards her and looked her straight in the eyes.

_Good, hazel,_ he thought and sighed in relief, heading back to continue spreading jam on his toast.

"What's gotten into you?"

"Trust me, you don't wanna know." Archie shuddered, placing the knife in the sink and taking a seat at the kitchen island. Atlanta sat down at the opposite end.

"It's not like I've got anything better to do." The luminous-haired girl reached across and grabbed a piece of toast, taking a bite and brushing the crumbs off the counter.

"I really don't want to talk about it," Archie muttered, looking away.

"Nightmare?" she took another bite.

"You could say that," he replied. Atlanta shrugged, finishing off the toast before reaching and commandeering the other piece, which Archie was obviously not that keen on eating after all. She took a bite of that one, wondering what it could possibly be.

"You're being really queer," she told him.

Archie twitched a bit. "Please don't say that word," he said bitterly, glaring at nothing in particular.

Atlanta stopped, about to bite, when she noticed the look on Archie's face. "Um... does this have something to do with Brien?" She asked innocently, and Archie's face (much to his discontent) turned a deep shade of red, giving him away instantly. Atlanta burst out laughing, placing the toast on the counter and clutching her stomach as she doubled over.

"Fine, laugh all you want! You don't know what it's like being sexually harassed in the middle of the night!" Archie hissed, which only made Atlanta laugh all the harder, until her eyes watered and tears nearly began rolling down her cheeks.

After a few good moments, she regained her posture, wiping the water from her eyes and smiling like a fool. "Oh, that's priceless."

"You can't tell _anybody,"_ Archie threatened, but sounded more pathetic than serious, "if the guys found out, I'd never live it down."

Atlanta saluted. "Your secret's safe with me, Elton John," she said, before bursting into laughter again. Archie glared, and she stopped her insane tittering, though it took a great deal of willpower. "Don't worry, Archie, I won't tell a soul."

"Thanks-"

"On the condition that you tell me exactly what happened," Atlanta cut in, grinning maliciously and giving him that pleasantly sinful, playful look. Only this time, Archie knew it wouldn't lead to such grand things.

"Over my dead body." Archie glared.

"Fine, then I'm just gonna go get Jay, Neil, Herry and Odie, and tell them all about your 'experimentation'. No sense making them wait for a story this good." Atlanta stood and began tucking in her chair as an alarm sounded in Archie's head and he knew she wasn't kidding.

"No, wait!" he yelled. Atlanta turned around, smirking. She pulled out her stool, sat down, placed her elbows on the counter and her head in her hands, regarding him with a most inquisitive look.

So, without seeing any choice in the matter, Archie told her the story. He left her name out of it, merely saying he was having a dream of a girl. He also decided not to say that it was a recurring dream. Once he had gotten it all out, concluding with "and then I came down here and you ate my toast," Atlanta had one question left.

"So who's this girl?" she asked suggestively, but a hint of something else poked through her tone, which she was quick to mask by playfully punching him in the arm, though not quickly enough.

Archie decided to tell the truth. "This really amazing girl I know, but I'd have no chance with her in real life." He couldn't quite stop himself from sounding a bit disappointed.

"Oh, don't beat yourself up," Atlanta encouraged, "I'm sure she's crazy about you too, and you just don't know it yet."

"Why would I beat myself up? That's your job," Archie said, rubbing the spot she had just punched. Nonetheless, he shook his head and her obliviousness, which never failed to amaze him. _If you only knew what you were saying,_ he muttered in his mind. He grinned at the irony, which she took as a sign of belief.

"Anyway, I don't know about you, Casanova, but I'm ready for bed again. Are you going back to sleep?"

"No, I'll stay up and watch T.V. or something, and I'll probably be hopped up on caffeine tomorrow. See ya!"

"Have a good night, you goof," Atlanta got up and mock punched him again, before scruffing his hair. She was about to leave, when she tripped over the leg of Archie's stool. She would have fallen rather painfully on her face, but Archie managed to get a hold of her just in time. He grabbed her waist and, without thinking, she threw her arms around his neck in an effort to balance herself. It took a moment before they realized the rather close, compromising position they were in, and then they both reacted accordingly and blushed the living daylights out of themselves.

Atlanta cleared her throat, the first to react after a few awkward seconds had blinked by, as she stood and removed her arms from their perch around Archie's shoulders. He too cleared his throat, letting go of her waist (despite the fact that he desperately wanted to hold on).

"Um... yeah, goodnight..." she muttered, exiting the room in quite a hurry.

Archie couldn't believe how close he had been to her, holding her like that with her arms around his neck. They had been so near he could almost feel her heart beating against his, the rise and fall of her chest, the cute gasp she made when she slipped and the warmth of her breath on his skin. Archie shook his head, but decided he'd hold onto the memory.

Archie put his plate in the sink and walked into the main room, clicking on the television and turning the volume down low, though his mind was most certainly on other things. He was quite sure that however short-lived and however one-sided it may have been, that one singular,real moment was ten times better than any dozens of dreams.


End file.
